Class 4
by HavocKid
Summary: What happens when a class 4 mutant disrupts the lives of those we love and know. Emily Havoc, also know as Husk, sheds more than skin. Disclaimer, I don;t own anything except my character and my parts of the story.
1. Those Were the Days

Her forearms ached and her joints were fixed for nearly ten minutes. Breathing steadily, then with one slight breath she took her shot. The arrow flew off the quiver and raced to the very center of the target.

"Good Shot, Em!" Clint stated. "I swear, you're passing me up every day."

"The arrows are heavy on the front end and the bows weakest point is too close to the center of the bow. I have many talents, Clint-ol-boy, archery is just one of my best." Emily remarked, looking at her comrade.

"Oh yeah, care to spit off a few others?" Natasha clicked in on the intercom. She was observing in the small room overlooking the practice rooms.

"Not particularly. I prefer to keep my secrets." Emily shouted up to her.

…

Emily Havoc had been a contributing member of S.H.I.E.L.D. since she was a very young girl. Her father, Roderik Havoc, graced her with many gifts before he sent her to the new world to live with his oldest and dearest friend, Howard Stark. Now, at age nineteen she held the ranks in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best operations.

"Come on, let's get cleaned up. I want to meet with the director by 11." Em waived for Clint to follow her to the locker rooms.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was a life offered to young Havoc after she discovered her mutant powers. Being classified as a level 4 mutant wasn't something she was proud of but she spent all of her life protecting her status and perfecting her fighting.

Her younger brother, Tony Stark, by her adoption, was just hitting the lime light with his new military equipment, backed by Howard's friend, Obadiah Stane. Like Tony, Emily was graced with Howard's brains as well. Thought she spent most of her time getting young Tony into trouble, Howard took a new shine to the little girl in his life. For this Tony resented her throughout his childhood.

After Howards death, Tony and Emily became inseparable, doing everything together, creating new weapons designs. One of their friends, Rhodey, heard of a new branch of the military that intrigued Em. Training harder, better and faster until one day she received a call from General Hawk. Just the man she wanted.

"Is this Emily Lou Havoc?" The gruff voice asked through the phone.

"Yes sir." Em replied, while Tony was imploring her to tell him who was on the phone, while his new secretary, Pepper Potts, pinched the bridge of her nose, failing to keep his attention.

"I have a very serious offer for you. Would this be something you're interested in?"

"Absolutely sir."

"I would like you to join our elite team. We know you belong to S.H.I.E.L.D. and the transfer of forms has already been requested."

"Sounds like something I've always wanted sir."

"Good. We will send a jet to pick you up at 800 hours tomorrow morning. I'll see you then soldier."

The phone clicked. Em turned to Tony and Pepper and smiled. Tony's eyes were begging for information. He knew nothing about S.H.I.E.L.D but knew that she worked for the same top secret organization that his father did.

"I'm getting deployed tomorrow." She said dryly. Tony had a fearful look in his eyes. He just lost his parents and didn't want to lose his sister too.

"So soon?" Pepper squeaked from behind Tony.

"Yeah. I need to go and speak with a few people before I leave." She pulled Tony in for a hug and then turned on her heel to walk away. "I'll be back in an hour or so and we can go out Tony."

"Sure." He watched her walk out of the front door and into the wide world.

…

"YOU'RE LEAVING!" Clint screamed, loud and harsh, so it echoed through the training gym. Emily thought it best to break it to him when they trained. "Well you'd best tell Nat, but she'll be heartbroken!"

Emily remembered the first time she met Natasha Romanoff. She'd thought Clint had gone barking mad when she found out that instead of killing their hit, he'd wanted to save her. Emily had remembered that mission well, she was fifteen and Clint was seventeen. Both sent to Russia for their hit on Natasha Romanoff, surrogate daughter of Ivan Petrovitch, who had saved her after the mysterious hospital fire that killed both of her real parents.

She met Natasha briefly, she was hurt and Clint was retreating with her from other gunfire. She was a USSR brainwashed spy and Clint wanted to save her. Em respectfully declined and pointed her firearm at Natasha's head, never once looking from her eyes. The loud shouts from Clint drowned out the more she looked into Natasha's eyes. Suddenly, from nowhere, Emily and Natasha connected. From then on she vowed to protect Nat and get her into S.H.I.E.L.D.

Convincing Fury was the hard part though. Eventually, he broke. Natasha loved Emily for all the help she gave her. She trained her, boarded her and fed her. Clint never said thank you, but took his part in the debate against Fury. The three agents together could take down and army and they did when they were sent to Budapest.

"If she has to go then she has to go." Nat said approaching as others in the gym continued to train.

"Thanks for understanding Nat. Take care of this old dog, he's losing his style." Em said with a wink as she headed for the exit.

"Will do." Nat confirmed with a short nod and a silent tear.

Clint ran after her just as she exited the building. "Thank you."

"For what" She looked around wildly wondering what she'd done.

"For Nat… and well, everything. You've… Really been there. Especially for me, and Nat too."

"You make it sound like you'll never see me again!" She retorted.

"I just, I never thanked you and I want to now."

Emily smiled. "Keep your head up, slick. Maybe you'll be as great as me one day."

Clint and Em shared a look before she departed for good, climbing into her old '85 Ford pickup truck and drove off. He remembered thinking that she needed a new truck before the director interrupted his thoughts.

"She was a good agent, but now she'll be a good soldier." He said watching her drive off.

"Sir?" Clint questioned.

"She's gonna be playing with the Joes now." Fury turned on his heel and walked back into the building.

…

That night Tony and Em just drove. They drove all night until they reached the southern tip of Oregon and then drove home. It was Em's favorite past time with Tony because they could just talk. Just before they reached home, Tony fell asleep in the passenger seat of their 1932 Ford Flathead roadster. She had left him there in his lab/garage. It was 730 hundred hours and she had places to be. She ran up to her room and grabbed the knapsack that she packed before the night. She left Tony a present wrapped in white wrapping paper and blue ribbon.

When Tony had finally awoken and realize he missed seeing his sister off, he mentally groaned at himself. He noticed the present after he went upstairs for his shower then came back down into the kitchen. There it was sitting on the counter. As Tony slowly unwrapped his present there was another box.

"Typical." He said to no one.

After the second, smaller box had been opened, he furrowed his brows.

"A wedding ring box. The hell?"

As he open the tiny box, a small chip inside was displayed. On the opposite side five letters were displayed.

"J.A.R.V.I.S."

Tony ran downstairs and uploaded it to his computer, only to be overwhelmed by the vast knowledge his newfound friend held in store for him.


	2. Meeting Again

Emily had risen in the ranks with the Joes. Now her aims were sighted in on the Spartans. They were a division that Emily solely created to fight as soldiers. After the alien invasion off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii she didn't think it was a bad idea to start training her men for a battle against aliens. Skeptics say that there never was an invasion, but some say different. Her unit in the Joes got some classified information and worked out this special division team. With the JARVIS technology Emily had created, she worked with Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey to create Cortana from Emily's own brain tissue.

Cortana works very much like the standard AI but with cognitive thoughts, feelings, and personalities. Dr. Halsey would not be able to recreate this data for another 90 when she used her own brain tissue for another Cortana, who in turn chooses John 117 to be her match.

Em thought about her friends and brother often, and wrote to them. It wasn't until she got a very distressing call from Rhodey, four years after she left home, that made her take leave and return home. For three unforgiving painful months she and Pepper waited for Tony Stark to be found. She begged the directors from every military to send her overseas to find him, but none prevailed.

Pepper got a call from Rhodey, "We found him." And at last Tony was home.

Pepper and she waited on the airstrip for Tony to get off the plane. Rhodey stood behind Tony when the doors of the jet opened up. Emily took a few steps back, not recognizing the man in front of her now, remembering only a boy. Her little brother. Now hardened and calloused by the sights of war.

She waited while he told the first responders with a stretcher to go away then had a few words with Pepper. When he finished he walked to his sister and hugged her. And she hugged him back.

"What is that thing in your chest?" Em whispered to him.

"It's a miniature arc reactor. I figured it was better than a car battery." Tony replied sarcastically.

Emily's eyes opened wide and she laughed. "Much better. I think you may need a replacement though."

"I think we could help with that." An omnipotent voice sounded. Tony started looking around for a third party anywhere around. Nobody.

"It's just Cortana, Tony. I'll let you have a look at her later." She smiled at him. The four of them got into the car.

"Take us to the hospital, Happy" Pepper asked the driver of the short limo.

"No, call for an emergency meeting." Tony argued.

"What, you're in no state to-…" Tony cut Pepper off, "Please and thank you Happy."

At the meeting Tony proclaimed his change of heart to the world. That Stark Industries would no longer be making weapons. Obadiah was furious, but got over it. Back at the house, in the basement, Tony began working on his man suit with Emily at his side. He showed her his original design, the one he had made in the cave. In turn she showed him the designed suit she made for her Spartans. Together they revised and made the Mach 2, creating flight capabilities as well as canon repulsors in the hands. Tony had asked Rhodey to join them, but he declined, thinking Tony was off his rocker.

"Ah well, what does he know anyways." Emily said, brightening Tony up a bit.

Emily stood up from under the hood of her old truck. She was wearing a light blue coverall suit with the top unzipped and tied around her waist, with a white wife beater on. Her work boots were muddy and she was covered in oil. Her long brown hair was tightly pulled back but put up in a messy bun. Her green eyes beamed when she saw Tony and her thin lips lapsed into a smile.

"Your old rust bucket died again?" Tony asked. Sizing up the truck.

"I seized the engine. Probably should be more cautious with how old it is." She replied looking back at it.

Tony wondered why she never found someone to spend her time with, instead of being holed up with him all the time.

_Lord knows she's probably been sized up by enough men in the military. _Tony thought to himself. Emily was truly a beautiful woman, but she didn't ever seem interested in a relationship.

"Em.."

"Hmm?" She started in on her truck again, attempting to drop the engine.

"Why don't you have a boyfriend? Or someone to be with? I mean. No offense. I've had plenty of girls…" He started as he was preparing to take out the cave made reactor for the new model he made. "… But I've never seen you, with anyone."

"I dunno, I guess I just haven't found the right partner." She looked at him, then walked over to his slanted bedtable.

"Think you could do this for me" he asked, pulling the old reactor out slightly.

"Hell no! that's gross." She said looking at her hands. "Besides, my hands are dirty… and way too big to fit that hole. Ask Pepper, she has small hands."

"Pepper, could you come down here a minute." Tony called over the intercom.

Emily leaned against her dead truck and watched as Pepper entered the room.

"Let me see your hands" Tony asked.

Pepper held up her hands.

"Wow, they are small" Tony said, surprised. Emily chuckled.

After the excitement in the garage Emily got a call from Captain Hawk.

"You ever coming back to your men?" He chuckled over the phone.

"Ah, I figured eventually… y'know." She laughed. She and the Captain were on good terms and he understood her situation. But her Spartans still needed her.

"Got any idea of a time-frame for me Chief?" He asked.

Emily still wasn't used to her new title yet and she knew he was desperate to have her back. "Ill jump a jet day after tomorrow. Sound good?"

"Best news I've heard all week. Thanks Chief. " Hawk clicked his end of the phone.

When Emily turned around to go back to the Basement she saw Tony behind her.

"You're leaving again, aren't you?" He looked at her blankly.

"My men need me."

"I need you too."

"I'll always be here." She touched the light on his chest. "Well, behind there." She chuckled, trying to be funny.

Tony laughed. "I guess I'll make the best of you here, now."

Once again, the next day Tony and Emily had taken a drive, only this time they went east until she turned around for home at 5 p.m. They had a dinner in a small back country café in California. Most of the rest of the ride home was belting out to the music that they loved. Emily was always a music person and it is what motivated her the most. She mastered the violin at age 9 and fared well enough with a cello and piano. They didn't reach home until 1 a.m. and she boarded her jet at 600 hours.

Tony set an alarm and when 5:30 rolled around he was not entirely awake, but he'd be damned if he didn't get to say goodbye to Em again.

Tony drove them to the airport and waited with her. She had her bags checked in and sat in the open corridor with Tony. They were quiet.

"You know, you're the best." Tony whispered.

Emily turned to look at him. She was clad in her blue camo pants and black shirt that stretched tightly across her chest. "What makes you say that."

"You're always there for me... Even if you did always get me in trouble when we were little." He poked her in the arm, knowing it didn't even hurt her because her muscles were in the way.

"Aww, c'mon, you were begging for it!" she laughed.

"Whatever, jerk"

"Aha, I'm the best in the world-jerk." She loved teasing Tony.

A ding abounded then the reader board messaged for her flight.

She stood up then turned towards Tony. Tony rose up too and took her in his arms. They hugged what seemed like it wasn't long enough.

"I love you, little brother." She said as she put her beret on, securing it on her head.

"I love you too. Be safe out there." He responded, willing himself not to cry.

She poked his light. "You too."

She walked to the exit out to her jet. As she reached the other side of the glass, she turned and waved a short goodbye. Tony nearly mirrored her back her wave. When she had taken off, he let himself cry in his car.


	3. Mutant

When Emily returned to Egypt and her Spartans she somehow knew it wouldn't be long before they had to go into action. She worked them harder every day. Always running, always shooting at a target, never stop moving. The team consisted of four men plus herself. Always moving.

Alex was tall and muscular in his legs. He was naturally tanned and had deep brown eyes that matched his hair. He kept to himself and fought hard, keeping the mentality that they were one of the last units that could potentially live out another alien attack. Although his reserved attitude could hurt him in the long run, his ideals for military tactics could save him. We call him Shepherd.

Caden was small man with squinted green eyes and skin paler than the moon but he was our gutter rat. He could climb faster than anyone and disappear into the shadows. Because of his small stature he often opted to fit into ventilation to get top secret information. His upper body strength is his highest strength among that of his ability to blend into his atmosphere. We call him Short Stack.

Arin was a tall, built black man with a hard face and hard eyes. He had seen murder and death before he came to the Joes. Now he dishes it out to his foes using his own made arsenal of guns. His family's death back in Australia took a toll on him but now his team is his family and he would do anything to protect them. We call him Reaper.

Willis was skinny, wore glasses to cover his blue green eyes. He was from Iceland and he was the team medic. He spent many nights holed up at the bar. Everyone made fun of him because his muscles were small. It wasn't that he wasn't strong, but he was a slender man, so Emily spent plenty of nights at the bar with him, making him feel better. We call him Doc.

Then there's Emily. Class 4 mutant with the brains of the leading weapons designer. Her power consisted of changing her form into anything she had been able to touch or see before. She was gifted in shifting, from animals to birds and reptiles, even turning skin to metal or water. But that was the thing, just the outer layer could shift into metal or water. When she was a Joe, they called her Husk. Now, they call her Chief.

…

Emily got a distressing call from Pepper not long after she left her home in California that Obadiah tried to kill Tony but now he was fine. If anyone could make her heartbeat spike it was Tony.

"We're all okay now!" Emily could hear Tony shout in the background of Pepper's call.

"Well that's just peachy." Em marked back and Pepper chuckled.

"Tony had an idea. I don't know how far out he's thought of it yet though." Pepper whispered in the mic of the phone.

"Shoot it at me."

"He wants to build a tower in Manhattan. Start with a clean slate in a new town."

"Well, there's no starting over but it can't hurt to move. Does he have to money for it?"

"Probably not." Pepper laughed followed by Em.

"Thanks for keeping him mildly… out of danger."

Pepper sighed a long sigh. "No problem." Then she laughed.

"Chat ya up later Darlin'. I gotta go." Emily clicked off her line.

…

Tony's phone rang, and rang, and rang. He let it go to voicemail. Again it rang. Why should he answer, he's kissing Pepper on top of the now destroyed expo.

"Sir, Emily is on the line. She doesn't sound happy." J.A.R.V.I.S. said.

"Well hell." Pepper giggles. "Hello dearest sister of mine." Tony said through gritted teeth.

"Not even three months since Obadiah and you went up against Vanko. It's all over the news! Are you mental!" Emily shouted over her phone.

"I got it under control. Plus Rhodey was there with me." Tony replied, nodding towards Rhodey as if she could see. "I wouldn't have been so 'mental' if you were here to help!" He guilted her.

She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

"When are you coming home?" Tony pried.

"Soon. I promise." She promised.

"Good." He smiled, holding onto Pepper. "I need to talk to you about some stuff."

"Like a tower in Manhattan?"

"Pepper ratted didn't she?"

"Oh yeah"

"Cats out of the bag"

"Yup"

"Whatcha think"

"I think it's a great idea"

"Really?"

"Yeah. Makes it easier when I fly home." She smiled through the phone.

Tony barked a laugh. "I guess I'll see you soon then."

"Yup."

"I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, no more crazy death stunts!"

"You got it." Tony smiled down at Pepper and his phone clicked off.

"Pack your bags babe, we're moving to the big apple!" Tony laughed.

…

The Spartans departed for their next mission in 20 hours. The men went to their bunker and headed for the showers and packed. Emily stood in the General's office, suited up in her geared, green combat suit. General Hawk stood behind his desk looking at the four profiles analyzing Emily Havoc's request.

"This isn't going to be easy to do." He looked blankly at her.

"This team should be under S.H.I.E.L.D. and you know it. They deal with more abnormal and alien encounters than the Joes do. It will be better for them to train under similar circumstances for the job requirement, other than the hypothetical training they get here." Emily argued.

Hawk took a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds then sighed. "Alright. I'll sign you over. Your unit will move to S.H.I.E.L.D. the minute that you finish this task."

"Thank you General. It means a lot to me." Emily put a hand on his shoulder. "And you can call on us whenever you need us."

…

Director Fury was glad to have Emily Havoc back on his team. Along with Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, the God Thor and America's freshly fished captain, Steve Rogers, Fury had a good looking team to call on whenever he needed them.

…

For some reason New York felt bigger than California to Emily and she supposed it was because of the walls of skyscrapers. Instead of bunking with Tony and Pepper in their huge, new tower, Em bought a small apartment 16 blocks away.

In this city she didn't need her old truck, so she scrapped it to the junkyard and walked wherever she needed to go. Today however, was grocery day, and poker night. Her soldiers didn't let old habits die.

As she pulled on some white capris and a dark blue lacy tank top. She let her long curls hang down and when she walked outside put on her aviator sunglasses. Em stood out amongst the crowd of city people, clearly looking like a farm girl, but she didn't care. She made her way to Jerry's Market, 3 blocks from where she lived.

Eggs, Lettuce, Cheese, Corn Chips, Turkey lunch meat, Bread, and Milk. Em kept repeating to herself as she walked. She waited for the white man to appear on the walk signal before she started to cross the street in her crowd of people. And that's when it happened. That's when he saw her. The car wasn't going to stop and all those people would get hurt.

The car kept speeding, the driver obviously not paying attention, and that when she stepped forward.

Emily's skin dissolved, just melted away and she was iron. All of her to her strands of hair. The car was stopped, indented around her body. As she stood with a strong stance and her arms shielded her face in an X. Everyone stared at her. The driver got out, unhurt and horrified. When Emily's skin returned to it's normal state, she was naked.

Now the man on the street moved toward her, shook off his leather jacket and draped it around her. It, obviously big on her, covered everything.

…


	4. Secrets

"I'm so sorry" Em said, looking away from her rescuer as she made her way back to her apartment building.

If he hadn't prudently followed her, he may have lost her in the crowd of people, most not paying attention that she was even half naked. Not even two block and she was in a locked building and climbing a flight of stairs. He caught the door before it locked and he sat at the bench seat on the inside of the building.

Just as he'd figured she poked her head down the stairs about 20 minutes later. Now fully clothed she slowly fluttered down the stairs. He noticed her starting down and stood, half smiling at her.

"I'm so sorry." She repeated again, not meeting his gaze once.

"Hey, it's okay." He reflexed, cupping her cheek to force her to look into his eyes. When their gaze met he smiled at her. "What you did, was the bravest thing I've seen anyone do… in a long time."

She smiled back at him, tears forming in her eyes. "I still have to go grocery shopping." She started cry-laughing .

"I'll accompany you, miss." He held his arm out for her to grab.

She took his arm, thanking God she didn't have to go alone. In her other hand she motioned for him to take his jacket.

"My name is Steve, by the way, Steve Rogers." He looked down at her and gently took the jacket from her hand.

"Emily. Emily Havoc." She replied, really looking into his bright blue eyes. He was tall, and muscular. He seemed nice enough, but that name. It sounded so familiar.

"Do I know you?" She asked, now walking down the street, linked onto his arm.

"I don't think so, Miss Havoc." He replied, smiling down at her.

"Where are you from?" She questioned.

Steve's eyes widened a bit. "I've been... North." He replied, remembering Fury's words of warning not to trust anybody with his secret.

"North, huh?" She paused. "I've been all over the world." She said, smirking to herself.

"Really? How do you manage that?"

"I'm in the military" She said nonchalantly. "My team and I do quite a bit of traveling."

"Your team?" Steve questioned.

"I'm part of a special unit." She tried so hard not to brag.

"Wow. I haven't met a lot of women in the military. Where I was from… I only knew one." Steve trailed off to his thoughts of Peggy, then quickly shook them off.

"How far North were you?" Emily raised an eyebrow, walking forward to open the door of the grocery store. "Around here, tons of women join the ranks."

"Just a small island in the Atlantic."

Steve heard a beep then a voice from nowhere.

"Chief, Tony's on the line." Cortana chippered up.

Steve looked around for the speaker and looked questioningly at Emily.

"Thanks Cortana." She said quickly as she slipped her phone from her back pocket and brought it up to her ear.

"Hello?"

"You got hit by a car!"

"How did you find out?"

"How didn't I, it's all over the news. Who's the blond?"

"I'm fine Tony, we'll talk later."She took the phone from her ear as tony began to talk more and cut the line. "Cortana, block my calls."

"Done, Chief." She said after a few seconds.

Emily grabbed a small basket and looked at Steve. "The voice you heard was Cortana, she grows on you." Emily laughed a little, bringing her hand up to the back of her neck where a small port was located for Cortana's chip. "She's an AI that I created. The phone call though, that was my brother."

Steve nodded, not fully knowing what an AI is. Em stopped a moment, staring off into the isles of the store.

"Damn." She whispered.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked her, ready to help with anything.

"I've forgotten what I need to get." She laughed, shortly after joined by Steve.

"I got your back Chief, Eggs, Lettuce, Cheese, Corn Chips, Turkey, Bread, and Milk." Cortana listed off.

"Thanks."

"Does it always do that?" Steve looked at her blankly.

"She, and most the time."

"Wow, complex."

"You have no idea. Sometimes our arguments last for hours."

"I can imagine. Does she have a body?" Steve wondered aloud.

"Yes, she can display herself on any cyber port, but without them, she is a voice."

"Jazzy." Steve whispered.

Emily concentrated on the rest of her shopping, Steve at her side, while every person in the store stared at the freak that demolished a car. Steve wondered if she felt uneasy by all the stares.

"You okay?" He asked

She drew in a deep breath, looking around at all the other customers. "Never better." She smiled at him.

She paid for her groceries and Steve helped her with her bags, walking back to her apartment, Steve felt like he didn't want to leave her alone. She unlocked the front door and held it open for Steve to come inside the building. They walked up her stares until she branched off into a corridor. Steve made a mental note, 39.

She unlocked the iron door and pushed it open. Setting her keys on a hook by the door and taking the chip from the back her neck, she placed it into a port on the side of a table. Steve looked around the massive apartment. The furniture looked nice, but unlived in. There were boxes with file folders all over them. The only really lived in part of the place was in the living room by the window. There was a huge L-shaped oak desk that had papers, maps, diagrams, and what Steve quickly learned was a 'laptop' computer. The kitchen was spotless white and she had a huge dining table off to the left side of it.

"My buddies are coming over to play poker with me tonight; you're more than welcome to join us. In fact, I insist!" She exclaimed.

Cortana took a physical form atop the table, sitting criss-cross. She was blue, different shades of blue. Her hair was short and her eyes imploring. She wore no clothes yet no part of her was vulgar. Steve felt strange about her. She stared at him. "It'll be a lot of fun." She said finally. "The guys are all really nice."

Steve looked from Emily to Cortana, trying to think if he had anything already planned. Then he remembered. Fury. He wanted to meet with Steve tonight at the gym.

Steve gave Emily a pained look. "I'd really love to. I have a meeting to get to tonight. My boss." He trailed off, knowing he shouldn't say anymore.

"It's okay." She smiled at him. "At least let me make you some lunch. It's the least I could do for you after… Today."

"Alright." Steve smiled at her. "Maybe I can stop by after, too." He said quickly, hoping to spend more time with her.

To Steve, Emily looked so innocent. Her eyes beamed up at him. He liked the color green all of the sudden. Her brown hair framed her face, coming down in curls and meeting the tanned skin on her back.

She moved to the kitchen and opened a cupboard, pulling out something black and glossy. It opened like a briefcase and had metal inside. "How does a Turkey Panini sound?" she asked.

Steve had no clue what a Panini was. "Sounds great!" he hoped.

…

"Panini's are awesome!" Steve exclaimed, laughing a bit as he wiped the crumbs from his mouth with a paper towel.

"I'm glad you liked it." Em laughed, taking his plate and rinsing it off in the sink. She turned to look at him, "Really Steve. Thank you, for today."

"Don't thank me. Those people should be thanking you. You're a hero. You saved their lives with… Well, whatever it was you did."

"Sometimes people can only see the bad, Steve. I don't expect them to go around thanking a mutant."

"Mutant? What's that?"

"Really Steve? You were never around for any of that debate on whether mutants should be treated equally?"

"I've been North for a while. As long as I can remember anyway." He lied a bit.

She nodded, staring past him.

"If most mutants are like you, then I don't think they're so bad." Steve stated.

"Some aren't." She said blankly, still staring off into the distance, remembering Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. "A lot of good ones died to protect us from the bad ones though." She looked into Steve's eyes, then smiled.

It was four thirty and Em heard a knock on her door. Most of the guys lived in the building as well, sometimes they came over whenever they wanted. Em walked over to the iron door and unlocked the deadbolt, peaking through the eyehole. As her opened the door Steve saw a dark man enter the room, picking Emily up and twirling her around in a hug.

"Hello, little dove!" Arin's voice was deep and thick with Australian accent. Steve stood and entered the room and Arin put Em down.

"Reaper, this is Steve. Steve this is Reaper- ah, Arin." She introduced them.

Steve walked forward, holding out his hand for a handshake, "Nice to meet you, sir"

Arin took Steve's hand and shook hard, "I ain't no sir, but pleasure's all mine." Reaper Looked at Em, "Short Stack tells me this mate was there at the intersection, with the crash." He looked at Steve again. "You're alright, mate."

"How did he find out?" Em questioned.

"Kids got eyes and ears." Reaper pointed at each of hers when he said eyes and ears.

Steve noticed another man walk in, with groceries in his hands. "Short Stack told all of us actually, sooo…" He trailed off, and Em twirled to look at him. "I got your favorite." He pulled out an ice cream container that labeled 'Tillamook Granny's Cake Batter Ice Cream' on it.

"Doc, you shouldn't have." Emily smiled as Shepherd and Short Stack trailed in behind Doc.

"What's the muscles name?" Doc asked as he sized Steve up.

"Steve. His name is Steve, Doc." Em said trying to get the guys to stop taunting him.

"Is he gonna play with us?" Shepherd asked looking from Em to Steve. "We could use another player."

"He has somewhere to be" Cortana piped up.

"Hey beautiful." Doc chanted at her.

"Hello Doc, men." She nodded towards the others.

"Aww, that aint no fun." Short Stack said, plopping down on the couch.

"Sorry guys." Emily said grabbing hold of Steve's arm. "I'll walk you out." She whispered to him.

Steve smiled at her then at the four men moving busily about the apartment. "Next time guys." He said to them.

Emily walked out with Steve close behind her. They walked side by side down the stairs in silence.

"That's my team" She said with pride, halfway down.

"Their real nice guys." Steve said, chuckling a bit.

"Not half as nice as I'd like them to be with you."

"Nah, they're great."

Emily smiled. "I guess I'll see you around then", she said as they approached the bottom flats door.

"I guess so." Steve smiled at her, opening it.

"Thanks again, Steve." She looked at him, not knowing how else to say goodbye.

"Any time." He replied looking back at her. Finally he walked out and up the street, Emily watched for a few seconds before heading up the flights of stairs and into her apartment.

"What, no kiss good bye?" Short Stack teased as she re-entered the room.

"Shut it Stacky!" She laughed. "Who dealer?"

…

Steve made his way to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s gym and started working out. Originally he started with a few laps, but the more he started thinking about the past the closer he got to the punching bag.

His memory started lapsing over the few last moments he had with Peggy over the com. Then waking up in the room. Steve tore the bag open, ripping it off the chain. Breathing heavy Steve picked up another punching bag from the lines and put it on the chain.

"Trouble sleeping?" Fry asked, emerging from the shadows.

"I've slept for over seventy years, sir. I think I've had my fill."

"Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world."

Steve stopped swinging punches at the bag and walked over to his bag, taking the hand wraps off, he sat down.

"I went under, the world was at war, I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say how we lost."

"We've made some mistakes along the way, some very recently."

"You here with a mission, sir?"

"I am."

"Trying to get me back into the world?"

"Trying to save it." Fury said finally, handing Steve the file of the Tesseract and HYDRA's projects

"HYDRA's secret weapon."

"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought what we think, the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs."

"Who took it from you?"

"He's called Loki. He's not from around here. There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if your in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know. "

"At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me."

"Ten bucks says you're wrong There's a debriefing packet waiting for you at your apartment."

Steve picked up another punching bag, knowing it was too late for poker.

"Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?" Fury called after him.

"You should have left it in the ocean."

…

Emily's phone started ringing again, after she took off the block.

"Hello, Tony." She said as the guys were taking their turns.

"Em. Look outside your window." She could hear the pride in Tony's voice.

She got up from the table and looked out.

"It's beautiful Tony." She looked amazed as all the lights gleamed from the tower. "All sustainable?"

"Yep. For now. It's just the prototype."

"I know. It's amazing Tony."

"Gotta go, I got a date with Pepper."

Emily laughed and clicked off her end. Shaking her head, she was proud of Tony.

"It's great, isn't it?" Fury stalked in the front door as all her men stood at attention for him.

"T'is. What brings you to my end of town?" She asked.

"At ease." He said to the men. "I have a mission. You and your men need to be ready for me in the morning. I need you on the Hellicarrier by 900 hours."

"You got it."

"Here are your debriefing notes. Guess it's a good thing I caught you all together." Fury chuckled.

"Something tells me you knew, anyways." Emily stared at the files and took the electronic notebook from Fury. She opened it and looked at all the files. Hulk. Iron Man. Clint. Nat. Her. Captain America…

She stared hard at the captain, now knowing full well who her savior is.

"Doc and I will review the notes Dr. Selvig's notes and see what we can come up with." Fury nodded at Emily's response, turned on his heel, and left.

"Men. Prepare yourselves. This is going to be big."

* * *

A/N: So this was a longer chapter. I hope the next ones will be longer too. Thank you to my readers! The next few chapters will also be movie verse to avengers plus my girl and her team! Review!


	5. The Big Reveal

Steve say on the quinjet, watching the footage of the Hulk destroy the army at Culver University. The pilot's voice broke his concentration.

"We're about 40 minutes out." He said. Agent Coulson got up and walked over to Steve.

"So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?" Steve asked.

"A lot of people were. You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula." He replied.

Steve continued to watch the video of the Hulk.

"Didn't really go his way, did it?"

"Not so much. When he's not that thing though, guy's like a Stephen Hawking."

Steve looked at Coulson, clearly confused.

"He's like a smart person. I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you, officially." Coulson said as Steve smiled at him. "I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping."

Steve looked down, feeling slightly awkward, and then got up to look out the window of the quinjet, followed by Agent Coulson.

"I mean, I was… I was present while you were unconscious from the ice. You know, it's really, it's just a … Just a huge honor to have you on board." Phil said, clearly embarrassed.

"Well, I hope I'm the right man for the job."

"Oh, you are. Absolutely. Uh… we're made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input."

"The uniform? Aren't the stars and stripes a little… old fashioned?"

"With everything that's happening, the things at are about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned."

Steve took sentiment in what Phil was saying, waiting out the rest of the flight.

…

The quinjet landed on a massive battleship, known as a Hellicarrier. Steve and Agent Coulson walked down the ramp and met with Natasha.

Phil took the pleasure in introducing the two. "Agent Romanoff. Captain Rogers."

"Ma'am?" Steve said.

"Hi." She simply said, then looked at Coulson. "They need you on the bridge. Face time."

"But she's not here yet." He said talking about Commanding Chief Emily Havoc. Natasha gave Coulson a look and he dropped it. "See you there."

Coulson ran off to the bridge of the massive ship, leaving Steve with Natasha, walking to the railing of the ship.

"There was quite a buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" Natasha asked.

"Trading cards?" Steve was confused.

"They're vintage, he's very proud." Natasha said as they walk up to Dr. Banner.

"Dr. Banner." Steve said, catching his attention. Shaking his hand.

"Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming." Banner said.

"Word is you can find the cube." Steve questioned.

"Is that the only word on me?"

"Only word I care about." Steve reassured.

Banner silently thanks him. "Must be strange for you, all of this."

"Well, this is actually kind of familiar."

Natasha cut into their conversation. "Gentlemen, you may wanna step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breath." The Hellicarrier start shaking as the pilots were strapping down the jets.

"Is this a submarine?" Steve asked.

"Really? They want me in a submerged pressurized metal container?" Banner questioned

As both men move closer to the edge four enormous lift fans came up from the water and lifted the Hellicarrier into the air.

"Oh, no. This is much worse!" Banner yelled over the wind.

They all head inside as another woman says to Fury "We're at lock, sir."

"Good. Let's dance." Fury says as reflecting mirrors reflect the sky while they're in the air. Fury turns around to see the two men. "Gentlemen." Steve walks over to Fury, looking out the front window, and hands him 10 bucks.

Fury walks over and shakes Bruce's hand. "Doctor, thank you for coming."

"Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh… how long am I staying?" Bruce asked.

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear." Fury reassured him.

"Where are you with that?"

Fury turned to Coulson to explain. "We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

"That's still not gonna find them in time." Natasha remarked.

"You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" Banner asked Fury.

"How many are there?" He answered.

"Call every lab you know, tell them put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?" Bruce responded.

"Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please."

Natasha nodded and walked off, Banner following her. "You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys."

…

"I mean, if it's not too much trouble." Coulson said to Steve, both looking out the window at the horizon.

"No, no. It's fine." Steve said.

"It's a vintage set. Took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint, slight foxing around the edges, but…"

"What is that?" Steve asked as a dot kept getting closer and closer to the Hellicarrier.

"That'd be the Chief." Coulson said, smiling.

Not even five minutes later the jet landed as four soldiers came off the ship. They were Clad in metal armor, a lot like Iron Man's yet slightly bulkier. One wore dark blue, three others wore a light green. Each displayed UNSC on the left arm. Finally a fifth came off the jet as pilots were strapping it down to the Hellicarrier. The last, clad in a dark green suit waived them off and they left. All five were heading to the bridge.

Fury came up before they did greeting them. "Chief. You're late."

"Fashionably." It was a woman's voice. "Coulson." She nodded toward Agent Coulson, then she saw Steve. "Captain America! What a pleasure to see you again." She said taking off her helmet.

Forwarding her hand for a handshake, Steve took it.

"Rogers, this is Commanding Chief Emily-"

"Havoc. I know. We've met." Steve cut off Fury as he smiled at her and shook her hand.

"I believe you know my team as well." Em chuckled.

"Yeah."

"We got a hit. Sixty seven percent match. Weight, cross match, seventy nine percent." Another agent called

"Location?" Coulson asked.

"Stuggart, Germany. 28, Konistrasse. He's not exactly hiding." The agent called back.

"Chief, Captain, you're up." Fury commanded.

…

"Nat." Em said, looking over to where Natasha was sitting in the co-pilot seat. Steve sitting in the seat behind, intently listening. "Where's Clint?"

"He's been taken." She responded, keeping her eyes forward out of the window.

"Taken? How?"

"Loki." That was all Natasha could say. She really didn't know anything else.

The museum was all lit up. There were people all outside, all on their knees, kneeling to this man with long hair in a horned helm, wearing a green cape. One man stood. An elderly man by the looks of it.

"Nat, take control, I'm going down." Emily said, unstrapping and putting her helmet on.

"I'll go down too." Steve added.

Just before Loki was going to execute the elder man, Steve blocked the attack with his shield as Emily fell in front of Loki and uppercut him in the jaw, knocking him down.

"Two soldiers. A man out of time and a woman out of body." Loki sniveled at them, standing up.

"I'm not the one who's out of time." Steve responded.

The quinjet got closer and the turret locks onto Loki's heat signature.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." Nat's voice is heard over the intercom.

Loki sends up a blast at her and Emily tackles Loki to the ground as Natasha maneuvers the quinjet from the blasts range. Loki kicked Em off and stood up, only to be knocked back down by Steve's shield. Steve begins to one on one with Loki as Emily quickly tells the civilians to run. Emily turned around just in time to see Loki point his scepter at Steve and tell him "Kneel"

Emily quickly picked up Steve's shield and threw it at Loki's face, hitting him on the temple.

"Not today." Emily said to him. Steve back flipped into a stance, giving a look of thanks to Emily. Loki grabbed Steve's leg and flipped him over as Emily ran to knock him down.

"This guy's all over the place." Natasha whispers to herself as the intercom of the quinjet is overrun. Shoot to Thrill is now playing as Tony's voice is heard over the music.

"Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?"

Tony touched ground as every weapon the suit has to offer is now pointed at Loki.

"Make your move, reindeer games." He snarks at Loki.

Loki surrendered as Emily pointed her automatic at him as well.

"Good move." He added.

"Mr. Stark." Steve said towards Tony as his face mask lifted.

"Captain."

…

Emily took her helmet off once they were all in the quinjet. "Hello Tony."

"Em, and here I thought I was going to be alone in this." Tony replied.

"We have a team." Emily replied, smiling, but never taking her gun off Loki.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Steve asked, clearly confused.

Tony and Emily smiled at each other, not saying a word when thunder claps the sky.

Fury's voice comes over their radio, "Said anything?"

"Not a word, boss." Emily replies.

"Just get him here. We're low on time."

Loki was cuffed and Tony stood with Steve looking out into the distant sky.

"I don't like it." Steve said.

"What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Tony joked.

"I don't remember it ever being that easy. This guy packs a wallop." Steve stressed.

"Still, you are pretty spry, for an older fellow. What's your thing? Pilates?" Tony continued to poke buttons and Emily chuckled at him.

"What?" Steve was getting annoyed.

"It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple of things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle."

"Tony" Emily barked. "Leave him be."

Tony finally turned to Emily "Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in."

"Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you." Lightning almost struck the jet, shaking the craft violently.

"WHERE IS THIS COMING FROM" Natasha yells over the thunder as Loki stares intently out the window.

"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?" Steve pokes on Loki as Emily regains her balance and continues aim at Loki.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows." Loki curtly replies.

Just then, something causes the ramp to lower as a blond man wearing a red cape bursts in and grabs Loki. Before anybody has time to react they are out of the jet.

"Now there's that guy." Tony said, astounded.

"Another Asgardian?" Emily Questioned

"Think he's a friendly" Steve asked.

"Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost." Tony said getting ready to fly out.

"Stark, we need a plan of attack!" Steve exclaimed.

"I have a plan. Attack." Tony said flying out, quickly followed by Emily putting her helmet back on and jumping out. Cap grabbed a parachute and put it on, ready to follow.

"I'd sit this one out, Cap." Nat said, trying to regain control of the quinjet.

"I don't see how I can."

"There's guys come from legends, they're basically Gods."

"There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." He said finally, jumping out.

…

Thor threw Loki into the side of the mountain and raised Mjolnir at his brother.

"Where is the Tesseract?" Thor questioned.

Loki laughed a deep, hearty laugh. "I missed you too."

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?"

"Oh, you should thank me. With the Bifrost gone how much dark energy did the Allfather have to muster to conjure you here? Your precious Earth." Loki quivered as Thor dropped Mjolnir, making the mountain shake.

"I thought you were dead." Thor finally mussed.

"Did you mourn?" Loki sniveled.

"We all did. Our father…"

"Your father. He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?" Loki half-yelled.

Thor let Loki walk away from him.

"We were raised together, we played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?" Thor was hurt.

Loki turned to Thor. "I remember your shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into the abyss. I was and should be KING!"

Thor became very angered at Loki's incompetence. "So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights. No, the Erath is under my protection, Loki."

"And your doing a marvelous job at that." Loki laughed. "The humans slaughter each other in droves, while you ideally threat. I mean to rule them. And why should I not?

"You think yourself above them."

"Well, yes."

"Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. Throne would suit you ill."

Loki shoved Thor out of his way and walked over to the ledge. Now facing Thor again, "I've seen worlds you've never known about! I've grown, Odinson, in my exile! I've seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it…"

"Who showed you this power? Who controls the would be king?" Thor interrupted.

"I am a king!"

"Not here! You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream! You come home."

"I don't have it. You need the cube to bring me home, but I've sent it off I know not where."

Thor grabbed Mjolnir once more and held it up. "You listen well, brother. I…"

Thor was knocked off the mountain by Tony, not fighting in the forest below.

"I'm listening." Loki chuckled. Emily landed feet away from Loki, just as he started to flee off the mountain side.

"Not so fast pretty boy" Emily said, pointing her automatic right at him. "Have a seat. Nat, I got him."

…

"Do not touch me again!" Thor commanded of Tony.

"Then don't touch my stuff." Tony argued.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with.

"Shakespeare in the park? Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?" Tony laughed

"This is beyond you, metal man. Loki will face Asgardian justice!"

"He gives up the cube, he's all yours. Until then, stay out of my way… tourist." Tony closed his helmet and began to walk away. Thor threw Mjolnir, knocking tony through a nearby tree.

"Okay."Tony exclaims and they start fighting, taking out numerous trees. Loki atop the mountain side, is watching, quite amused.

"Boys." Emily said, board of their petty squabbling. Then Thor electrified Tony. "TONY!" Emily yelled, hoping he was okay.

"Power at 400% capacity." JARVIS said.

"How about that." Tony mused. "I'm okay, he stated over his com.

Again, Tony and Thor go at it. The captain landed and tried reasoning. "Hey, that's enough! Now I don't know what you plan on doing here."

"I've come to put a stop to Loki's scheme's!" Thor said.

"Then prove it. Put the hammer down." Cap said.

"Um, yeah, no! Bad call! He loves his hammer!" Tony said just before being backhanded like a pimp by Thor with Mjolnir.

"You want me to put the hammer down?" Thor asks Cap as he leaps into the air and swings it down onto Cap. Steve put up his shield and Thor and Tony flew way back.

"Are we done here?" Cap asked finally, as they looked in disbelief.

* * *

Another long one. Hope you enjoyed and hope I stayed close enough to the script. Next chappie will be interesting for Cap and Em. May have a bit of a twist.


	6. Arguements

Loki stood now in the glass cylinder.

"In case it's unclear. You try to escape. You so much as scratch that glass." He motions to the activation button with wind now swirling about them. "Thirty thousand feet, straight down in steel trap. You get how that works?" Fury looked to Loki, "Ant." And back to the button, "Boot." He shut the hatch and began to walk towards Loki.

"It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me." Loki said smirking.

"Built for something a lot stronger than you."

"Oh, I've heard." Loki said, looking straight into the camera, as if seeing us right through the video link we were watching on the bridge. Banner looked uncomfortable and Emily placed her gloved hand on her shoulder.

"The mindless beast, makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?" Loki threatened.

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did." Fury was getting irritated.

"Ooh. It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is?" Loki snarled at him.

Fury smiled. "Well, you let me know if Real Power wants a magazine or something." Fury said as he walked out and to the bridge.

Everyone watched until the monitor when black. Emily say down at the briefing table as her team entered the room. She took off her gloved and laid them on top of her helmet. Dr. Banner looked at her.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?"

"Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" Steve changed subject.

"He has an army called the Chitauri. They are not of Asgard, or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." Thor Replied.

"An army? From outer Space?" Steve was in disbelief.

"That's where we come in, right? To fight this 'Chitauri' army?" Doc asked, looking at Emily.

She stood from her seat, sighed, and looked at everyone. "We fight to protect our Earth. It's what we've been training for right boys?" She looked at Reaper. Then Shepherd. Then Short Stack. Then Doc. "Yes. We will fight the Chitauri should they come."

"So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for." Banner said, Emily nodded.

"Selvig?" Thor was surprised.

"He's an astrophysicist." Banner replied.

"He's a friend." Thor replied, looking sad.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours." Natasha said, looking upset at Emily.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here." Steve argued.

"I don't think we should focus on Loki." Emily said.

"Yeah, that guys brain is a bag full of cats, you can smell crazy on him." Banner agreed.

"Take care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is still of Asgard, and he's my brother." Thor tried to reason.

"He killed eighty people in two days." Natasha became slightly livid.

"He's adopted." Thor now stood up for himself.

Banner was looking through a list of stolen items from the museums lab. "Iridium, what did they need the iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent" Emily and Tony said at the same time as Tony walked in with Agent Coulson.

"Means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." Tony finished, then looked at Thor. "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing." Now he looked back to Banner and the team. " Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants." Tony finished.

Emily walked down to the crew deck where people were on their computers. Tony followed her with his eyes, then shouted to the crew, "Uh, Raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails." Emily stopped by a certain someone. "That man is playing GALAGA! Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." Emily laughed and walked away from the man playing as he rushed to change his screen. Tony turned to the controls in front of him and covered one eye.

"How does Fury do this?" Tony questioned Agent Hill.

"He turns" She retorted, annoyed. Emily joined the group back up on the deck.

"Well, that sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs a power source." Tony finished.

"Something with a high energy density, something to kick start the cube." Emily added

"When did you two become an expert on thermonuclear astrophysics?" Hill retorted, still clearly annoyed by Tony.

"Last night. The Packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory I the only one who did the reading?" Tony wasn't surprised.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked.

"He needs to heat the cube up to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulumb barrier.

"Unless, Selvig figured out how to…" Tony started.

"Stabilize the quantum tunneling effect" Emily and Tony finished at the same time again.

"Well, if he could do that then he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet." Bruce said as Emily nodded in agreement.

"Finally, someone who speaks English." Tony said.

"Is that what just happened?" Steve asked, not following what was being said anymore.

Tony and Bruce shook hands. "It's good to meet you Dr. Banner. You're work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster." Tony smiled.

"You had him, then you lost him, Tony." Emily chuckled.

"Thanks." Banner said, looking down.

Fury walked in, "Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him."

"Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it looks an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."

Shepherd looked up from his hands as he heard HYDRA. He had studied their work for a long time. "You're right, Captain. Not only does the blue jewel look like the ammunition used in their guns but the blasts are similar as well." He finished pulling up old videos of blasts from the guns side by side with the blast from Loki's scepter. Steve smiled at him, feeling like he was understood finally.

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys." Fury said, disregarding Shepherd's statement.

"Monkeys? I do not understand." Thor looked confused.

"I do! I understood that reference." Steve said looking proud of himself. Tony rolled his eyes and Emily chuckled.

Tony looked to Banner, "Shall we play Doctor?"

"Lets" Banner replied as they walked out and toward the lab.

"Men." Emily barked to her soldiers with her back turned to them. They all stood at attention.

"Get out of those suits. Rest up for 10. Then I want you to suit into the flight suits. Make sure all shields are activated and coms turned to line 3. Understood?"

"Yes, Chief!" They all barked loud before they exited in form to the jet.

"You really got a tight hold on them." Natasha said to her, getting up from the table.

"It's not gonna be all beer and skittles, Nat." Natasha laughed and followed Fury and Agent Hill out of the room.

Emily picked her helmet and gloves up off the table. "And what about you? Don't you get to get out of that suit too?" Steve had asked her, not realizing how sexual it sounded.

Em chuckled when she looked at Steve wide eyed. "And we haven't even had a date yet Captain." She said, winking to him.

Steve blushed a deep red. "I, uh, *cough* I, I didn't mean it like that! Really. Honestly." Emily laughed as they exited toward the lab.

The agent aforementioned continued to play Galaga as the Agent next to him laughs profusely.

…

Banner and tony were in the lab. Banner was scanning THE Scepter for and gamma traces. Tony looked at the monitors, shifting around and solving algorithms and equations. Emily entered behind him and added her input on a few of them. Tony growing a slight stress vein with her watching him. Banner's voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Tesseract. But it's gonna take weeks to process."

"If we bypass their mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can clock this around six hundred teraflops." Tony said.

"All I packed was a toothbrush." Banner joked.

Tony smiled "You know, you should come by Stark Towers sometime. Top ten floors, All R and D. You'd love it. It's candy land."

"Thanks, but the last time I was in New York I kind of broke… Harlem." Banner replied as Emily chuckled.

"Well I promise a stress free environment. No tension. No surprises." Tony finished with proding banner with an mini electric stick.

"Damnit Tony." Emily stressed

"Ow." Banner simply says.

Tony looked at Bruce closely. "Nothing?"

Steve walked in, "Hey! Are you nuts?"

"You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo Drums? Huge bag of weed?" Tony was curious.

"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve was annoyed.

"Funny things are." Tony retorted, annoyed by the captain.

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny, no offence Doctor." Steve said.

"He's right Tony." Emily stressed more.

"No, it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." Banner stood up for Tony.

"You're tiptoeing big man, you need to strut!" Tony exclaimed.

"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark." Steve turned the tables.

"You think I'm not? Why did Fury call usand why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables." Tony argued.

"You think Fury's hiding something?" Steve questioned

"He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets." Tony said, looking at Emily, knowing full well she was a secret of Fury's. Then looked at Banner. "It's bugging him too, isn't it?"

"Uh...I just wanna finish my work here and..." Banner couldn't find his words.

"Doctor" Steve said.

"A warm light for all mankind, Loki's jab at Fury about the cube." Banner responded

"I heard it" Steve said.

Banner pointed to Tony. "Well, I think that was meant for you. Even if Barton didn't post that all over the news."

"The Stark Tower? That big ugly…" Steve began until Tony gave him a look "...building in New York" He finished.

"It's powered by Stark Reactors, self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?" Banner said.

"That's just the prototype. I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now." Tony sounded Proud of himself.

"So, why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" Banner asked Steve.

"I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure photos." Tony added.

Emily sighed knowing full well what they would find out. She left the lab leaving the boys to argue.

"Sorry, did you say...?" Steve sounded disbelieving.

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide." Tony said as he holds out a bag of blueberries to Bruce. "Blueberry?"

"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around?" Steve was upset.

"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not cool." Tony joked.

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them." Steve said at last.

"Following is not really my style." Tony retorted, winding Steve up.

"And you're all about style, aren't you?" Steve was pissed.

"Of all the people in this room, which one is; A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B. not of use?" Tony kept poking.

Banner finally butted in, "Steve, tell me none of this sounds a little funky to you?"

Steve thought about it, but remembered where his loyalties lie. "Just find the cube." Steve walked out of the lab.

"That's the guy my dad never shut up about? Wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice." Tony said to Bruce.

"The guys not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on is." Banner stood up for Steve now.

"What he's got is an ACME dynamite kit… And it's gonna blow up in his face, and I'm gonna be there when it does."

"And I'll read all about it."

"Uh-huh. Or you'll be suiting up like the rest of us."

"Ah, I see. I don't get a suit of armor. I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare."

"You know, I've got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart." Tony pointed to his arc reactor, "This stops it. This little circle of light. It's a part of me now, not just armor. It's a… terrible privilege." Tony finished.

"But you can control it."

"Because I learned how."

"It's different." Banner wanted to stop arguing, so he turned to his computer screen. Tony walked over and slid all the windows to the side.

"Hey, I've read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you."

"So you're saying that the Hulk… the other guy… saved my life? That's nice. That's a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?" Bruce exclaimed.

Tony walked over to his own computer, "I guess we'll find out."

"You might not like that" Banner warned.

"You just might." Tony corrected.

* * *

Gotta get all the little stuff out of the way. More Steve/Em next Chappie.


	7. The Big Apple

Steve was walking through the secured storage hull hangar. Steve saw one door on his left and decided to take his chance. Steve slid open the massive doors and entered. He heard someone talking down the corridor and jumped onto an overhead catwalk. Steve continued to follow the catwalk until he approached another door labeled SECURED. Again, sliding open the massive door he slid into the darkness of the room. Then a light shifted on and his eyes adjusted on her figure.

"Emily" Steve asked.

She turned to look at him. "Hi, Steve."

"What are you doing in here?"

"I could ask the same question… But I know why you're here." Emily lifted the top of the weapons chest she had been in front of. "You came looking for these."

"What are they?"

"Weapons." She looked down. "SHIELD's been using the Tesseract to create weapons. We're calling it PHASE 2."

"Why are you telling me?"

"You, and everyone else, is putting their lives on the line. You deserve to know. JARVIS will have hacked the mainframe soon, Tony will find out and tell Bruce. You all deserve to know. We made a mistake."

Steve looked Emily dead in the eyes. "We're even now." He took a gun from the case and disappeared back into the darkness of the catwalk only lit up by the glow of the gun.

…

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" Fury asked, surprised to see that he and Banner weren't working on the cube.

"Uh, kind of been wondering the same thing about you." Tony reacted.

"You're supposed to be looking for the Tesseract."

"We are. The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile." Tony smiled and Banner argued.

"And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss…" Tony added as files came up on the computer screen. "What is PHASE 2?"

Steve walked into the lab and dropped the HYDRA rifle that Emily gave him onto the table. Steve was pissed off, "PHASE 2 is SHIELD using the cube to make weapons." Steve looked at Tony, "Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow."

The three men stared at Fury.

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're…" Fury started.

"I'm sorry, Nick." Tony moved the screen on his computer to show everyone. "What were you lying?"

"I was wrong director. The world hasn't changed a bit." Steve accused as Emily walked into the room with Natasha and Thor.

"Sir, my men are ready at your order." Emily stood at attention to him as Banner and Stark Looked pissed at her and Natasha.

"Did you know about this?" Banner accused

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" Natasha asked.

"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed." Banner defended.

"Loki is manipulating you."

"And you've been doing what exactly?"

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you!"

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction." Banner ended the argument.

"Because of him." Fury nodded toward Thor.

"Me?" Thor was surprised.

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, out gunned." Fury just started.

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet." Thor defended.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people that can't be matched, they can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the cube!" Steve defended Thor.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the reals that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war." Thor argued.

"A higher form?" Steve said.

"You forced our hand, we had to come up with something." Fury started again.

"Nuclear deterrent, cause that always calms everything right down." Tony butt in.

"Remind me again, how you made your fortune, Stark?" Fury turned the tides.

Everyone started arguing making it unclear to hear a word anyone was saying. The blue gem in the middle of Loki's scepter glowed even more brightly. Emily stopped barking at Tony and Thor long enough to see the potential threat. She walked closer to Banner.

"Are you okay?" She asked him

"Get away from me!" He barked back

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos." Thor said.

"It's his M.O., isn't it. I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're, we're a time bomb." Banner said.

"You need to step away." Fury warned.

Tony put his arm around Steve, "Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?"

Steve pushed Tony away and stepped closer to Emily. "You know damn well why! Back off!"

Tony walks closer to the captain and gets in his face. "Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me."

"Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" Steve got closer.

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Tony stepped closer.

"Tony. Enough!" Emily stepped between the two.

"What, you're taking his damn side? After everything we've been through. And you knew about the weapons? I'm beginning to wonder whose side you're on!" Tony yelled at her.

"Hey, she's doing her job; I can only say that about some of us." Steve stepped passed her, trying to shield her from Tony's words.

"Back off, Spangly. She's my sister!" Tony took another step.

"The only thing you fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you." Steve was defending her. Only she ever defended her from Tony.

"I think I would just cut the wire." Tony said sarcastically.

Steve smiled. "Always a way out… You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

Tony had enough, what some Capsicle know? "A hero? Like you? You're a lab rat, Rogers! Everything special about you came out of a bottle!"

The next thing tony saw was a fist. "I said that's enough!" Emily had it with Tony.

Thor began laughing, "You people are so petty…and tiny!"

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner to his..." Fury began.

"Where, you rented my room!" Banner interrupted.

"The cell was just in case…" Fury started.

"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know! I tried! I got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out! So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!" Banner confessed. "You wanna know my secret agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"

Fury and Natasha go to grab their guns as Emily steps forward to lay her hand on Bruce.

"Doctor Banner… Put down the scepter." Emily whispered to him.

Bruce looked down at his hand shocked that he had it, then beep.

"Tony?" Em asked.

"Got it." He responded to Banner.

"Sorry kids, looks like you don't get to see my little party trick after all." Banner said, walking to the computer.

Once again, people began arguing and then boom. Natasha and Bruce fell through the floor. Tony and Steve went out to fix the broken fan. Thor jumped to the lower level to help Natasha as Bruce turned into Hulk.

"Shepherd!" Emily said over her com, running to the bridge with Fury.

"Yes Ma'am." He responded.

"Get to the bridge, we've been breached. Execute formation snowball if I'm not there in ten minutes."

"You got it, Chief."

"Fury, watch out." Emily pushed Fury out of the way as a bullet grazed her cheek. She pulled her pistol from the holster, now on one knee, took aim and shot to kill.

"Thanks." She pushed fury up off the ground and they continued to run towards the bridge.

…

"Shepherd, Doc, take the right wing. Reaper, take the left. Short Stack, I need the vents clear."

"Cap, hit the lever." She heard tony say over the com.

"I need a minute here." Cap responded.

"Uh oh."

"Tony!" Em shouted.

…

"Agent Coulson is down." Fury said over the com.

"A medical team is on its way." Another agent said.

"They're here… They called him."

…

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them." Fury threw Coulson's Captain America Trading Cards on the table towards Steve. Steve picked them up, stained with blood.

"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming. Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called The Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes."

Tony got up and walks off, not wanting to hear it anymore.

"Well, it's an old fashioned notion" Fury finishes.

…

Emily found Tony in the empty cell container. She was out of her suit now. The blue, army issued pants covered her legs until her half-calve high boots continued down to her feet. A plain black t-shirt stretched across her abs and breasts. She pulled her hair up to prevent some of it from scabbing into the open wound on her cheek. She approached him slowly as Steve waited in the doorway.

"Hey." She whispered, almost inaudibly.

"Hi." He said back, staring hard into the metal.

She stood two feet from him, nearly four inches taller than him. "I'm sorry. About earlier. Punching you." She said.

Tony laughed. Emily smiled a little. They stood there together, both now staring hard into the metal. Steve took this time to approach.

"Was he married."

"No. There was a uh…" Tony forgot the word.

"Cellist." Emily filled in for him.

"I'm sorry, he was a good man."

"He was an idiot!" Tony butt in and Emily furrowed her brows.

"Why? For believing?" Steve asked.

"For taking on Loki alone."

"He was doing his job, Tony." Emily strained saying it.

"He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have…"

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony." Steve said, now believing Tony and he were comfortable enough to say first names.

Tony walked away from them. "Right? And how did that work for him."

"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier." Steve asked.

"WE ARE NOT SOLDIERS!" Tony screamed, echoing throughout the chamber. Then slightly looking at his sister. "I'm not marching to Fury's fife."

"Neither am I! He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki does. Right now we've got to put that aside and get this done. Now Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list." Cap tried to change the subject.

"He made it personal" Tony whispered.

"That's not the point" Cap sighed.

Emily caught on to what Tony was saying. "That is the point, Cap. Loki's point. He wanted to hit us all right where we live. But why?"

"To tear us apart." Steve responded.

"He had to conquer his greed, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us and be seen doing it. He wants an audience." Tony started.

"Right, I saw his act in Stuttengard." Cap egged.

"Yeah! That was just a preview, this is opening night!" Emily exclaimed. "Loki's a full tilt diva." He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered on …"

"Son of a bitch!" Tony interrupted Emily as he left the room to suit up and head back to New York.

Emily looked at Steve.

"I guess I'll go suit up." She said meekly, still staring at him.

"Yeah." Steve said smiling at her.

Emily turned around to leave when Steve grabbed her arm and pulled her close. Hugging her, she squeezed back, holding onto him. She pulled far away enough to look into his eyes.

"What, no kiss?" Short Stack called from behind as Doc wolf whistled at the two.

Emily pulled away from Steve and looked sharply at the two. "Men, suit up!" She barked.

The two men stood at attention, waiting for other orders. "And… This stays between us."

"Yes ma'am." The two said in unison, taking leave to suit up.

Emily turned around to look at Steve one last time. "I guess I'll see you in the Big Apple." She smiled one last time and Stepped out of the chamber.


	8. Vacation

It had been so long since she stopped moving. Emily stood there after they had beaten off the first wave of aliens. The Chitauri was not what she had expected them to be, nor were they anything like the life forms that landed in Hawaii. Emily studied the attack that happened during the RIMPAC exercises. Despite the loss of connection that the aliens inhibited upon the small island, that didn't stop people from still recording it.

The way that the Chitauri worked was nothing like that. They we're so much different. There was no structure, not in tune with a single thing except for destroy.

Not long ago, Bruce had joined the battle and "hulked" up. Tony flew up to his tower for the loss of power to his suit. Natasha was on the roof of the tower attempting to find a way to kill the portal. Reaper and Shepherd stayed close to Hawkeye while Short Stack worked with Doc to get the civilians to a safe haven.

Emily stood in the middle of the rubble and debris, she could hear people crying, moaning for help. Her green armor was bulky and weighing her down. She clicked the latch on each sides of her helmet and pulled it off. She pressed her tongue to the top pallet in her mouth. Looking towards the sky, more Chitauri poured from the sky.

"We have to find a way to stop this." She breathed into the com.

"There might be a way." Natasha stated curtly. "Loki's staff."

"Then get it done." Emily put her helmet back on and started running towards a flyer. Jumping on a half broken wall she grappled the left side handle, bringing the alien to meet the ground. It scurried to its feet and faced her, bringing out his weapon, aiming at her. She grabbed the face of the gun and bent the metal.

"Cortana, hack the cities distress siren." She said to nothing as the alien grew distressed and tried to run. She moved forward and grabbled it's leg, pulling it to the ground and curb stomping it's head.

"And do what with it?" She replied.

"Play from my recently added soundtrack." Emily smiled from within her helmet, only seeing the destruction of the city from the reflection of the outside of her visor.

"The Warrior by Nerd Rage is playing now." Cortana said.

Emily slightly chuckled at how happy Cortana had sounded when she relayed the message. Waves of Chitauri moved in on her as she caught a board flying passed her. Hauling her lightly armored body onto the board with effortless moves, she stomped the lifeless body of a chitauri off the board and heaved it right. The music played on throughout the loud speakers in the city, each beat dropping guided her movements as civilians looked on in horror and disbelief.

The battle waged, wave after tireless wave, until it had been announced that a bird was heading our way with a missile large enough to destroy not only the city but the island. Tony caught the missile and headed straight for Manhattan. Straight for the portal. Then he was gone. He disappeared.

"Come on Stark, get outta there." Natasha said.

"You have to close it." Steve said finally.

"Wait! No. You're crazy. Give him some time damn it!" Emily was livid with Steve, with anyone who would close that portal on her brother.

Instantly all of the Chitauri fell as they looked up and saw the explosion through the portal.

"He did it!" Emily was relieved. "Come on Tony…"

"Close it. Now." Steve said curtly. And it was. And there was nothing.

There was a glint of gold and red as Tony fell through the air.

"He's not slowing down." Steve said, brows furrowed, as all started rushing to where he was falling.

But it was Hulk who caught Tony and braced their fall. Tony's face plate was ripped from his body suit only to reveal an unresponsive body.

"Tony." Emily said as she approached smiling at first for his safety, only until she realized the severity of his situation. Tears stung her eyes as she ran to him, ripped her own helmet off. She started beating him. Screaming at him. Tears streaming down her face, falling on him.

"You can't die, Tony. Not here. Not now. Come back Tony!" She screamed. Shepherd came from behind her, pulling her from her waist, away from him.

"Roooaaar" The Hulk let out his anger, and Tony started up again.

Shepherd let go of Emily as she ran to him. Embracing him and pressing her lips to his forehead.

"Tony…" She pulled away from him and stared upon his body, then pulled him into another quiet embrace.

"Nobody kissed me did they?" He let out a laugh. "Let's call it a day team. We're not coming in tomorrow."

…

Thousands of lives were lost in Manhattan, and news reported from everywhere came to get there big shot, asking everyone what their thought were on the "Avengers".

"Captain America saved my life." Said one waitress.

Many children dressed up as the heroes.

"Those giants in that armor. That can't have been military. They're the real enemy. Their telling everyone that we're ready to fight. It's their fault!"

…

Thor and Loki went back to Asgard, taking the Tesseract with them as the group watched from their circle in the park. Clint and Natasha stood together, whispering. Tony stood with Bruce as they looked on at the wonder. Steve stood alone as Emily stood opposite him with her team of men behind her.

Needless to say she was pissed at him.

You don't give up on family. Ever.

Slowly the team dispersed.

"Come stay with me at the tower. You can have your very own floor." Tony bartered with Emily. "All of you can have your own floor." He laughed, eyes sparkling at her.

The men liked the idea, yet Emily seemed unconvinced. She raised her hand gently. Her pointer finger raised slowly as if to say one.

"One condition." She responded.

Tony smiled. "Anything."

"I get to design the gym." She smiled back, beaming at him.

"Such a busy bee. I suppose if you're not spending too much time with Captain Spangles over there, I'll let you."

She glanced over at him as he turned to leave on his bike. He knew when he wasn't wanted, and he got that vibe from her right now.

"I don't think Spangles and I will be spending too much time together anymore."

Tony laughed, "Give it time. You'll get off your period soon."

Emily gave him a light punch "I am not!"

Tony and Bruce departed for his car as Emily turned to look at her men.

"Well guys." She took a moment to breathe as they all watched her. "Take a vacation." She smiled.

"What?" Short Stack asked.

"All we've ever known for the past three years is orders from you." Reaper laughed.

"Can't expect us to stop now." Doc jeered.

She looked at each of them, from one to the other. "Be back at 700 hours Thursday. And I still expect Tuesday night poker." She laughed.

"Actually." A deep voice, she knew only to be the directors sounded behind her as the men stood at attention. Natasha and Clint walked over to eavesdrop on the conversation about to take place.

"I need you to all to stay low for now." He finished, looking between each soldier.

"How long is now?" Emily asked directly, narrowing her gaze.

"At least a year, maybe two." He looked straight back at her.

Things were serious for her and her team right now and if they came out in the open, not only would they get arrested, but they would be executed. Higher powers took the claim that it was the soldiers fault and ran with it, and that nobody was safe with them around.

"All of your communication will be dead, your suit are repo'd from me as of now and any personal belongings pertaining to your lives as soldiers have been confiscated. I have a bird going to the Daintree Rainforest in Australia. It leaves in a hour. Pack clothes and survival gear. I'll find you when it's safe." "The one place everything tries to kill you except a volcano." Emily let in a deep and exhaled a deep sigh, "Fuck."

…


End file.
